Twin Tank Water Treatment System and Method

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the invention provide a twin tank water treatment system and method. The water treatment system includes first tank with a first set of sensors and a first resin bed, a second tank with a second set of sensors and a second resin bed, and a valve assembly with a flow meter and a controller in communication with the first set of sensors, the second set of sensors, and the flow meter. The method includes determining when the resin beds are exhausted based on input from the flow meter, the sensors, and a water hardness setting.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/246,904 filed on Sep. 29, 2009,the entire contents of which is incorporated, herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

In water softener systems, multiple tanks provide an efficient andreliable means of providing continuous soft water. In single tanksystems, a reserve capacity is often configured into the tankcontroller. The reserve capacity helps to ensure that hard water is notdelivered (i.e., to ensure untreated water is not output) during periodsof normal water usage until a regeneration can be performed. Forexample, if regeneration is configured to occur at 2:00 a.m., andnon-reserved softening capacity becomes exhausted at 10:00 a.m., thereserve capacity can maintain soft water production until the scheduledregeneration time. Any reserve capacity not exhausted will beregenerated, thereby lowering the efficiency of the system.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments of the invention provide a water treatment systemincluding a first tank with a first set of sensors and a first resinbed, and a second tank with a second set of sensors and a second resinbed. The water treatment system also includes a valve assembly coupledto the first tank and the second tank. The valve assembly includes acontroller in communication with the first set of sensors, the secondset of sensors, and a flow meter. Also, the controller determines thatthe first resin bed is exhausted based on input from the flow meter andthe first set of sensors, and switches service operation from the firsttank to the second tank when the first resin bed is exhausted.

Some embodiments of the invention provide a method for determining resinbed exhaustion of a water treatment system. The method includesmeasuring a volume of fluid that has flowed through the resin bed,retrieving a water hardness setting and a resin bed capacity, andmeasuring a hardness front location along the resin bed using at leastone sensor. The method also includes calculating a new water hardnesssetting using the hardness front location, the measured volume of fluidthat has flowed through the resin bed, and a placement of the at leastone sensor, estimating a remaining fluid volume capacity using the newwater hardness setting, the resin bed capacity, and the measured volumeof fluid that has flowed through the resin bed, and determining resinbed exhaustion when the remaining fluid volume capacity has flowedthrough the resin bed.

Some embodiments of the invention provide a water treatment systemincluding a first tank with a first set of sensors and a first resinbed. The water treatment system also includes a valve assembly coupledto the first tank. The valve assembly includes a flow meter and acontroller in communication with the first set of sensors and the flowmeter. The water treatment system further includes a user interfacecapable of retrieving an initial water hardness setting. The controllercontinuously adjusts the initial water hardness setting based on inputfrom the flow meter and the first set of sensors, calculates a remainingvolume capacity of fluid flow until the first resin bed is exhaustedbased on the adjusted water hardness setting, and initiates regenerationof the first resin bed when the remaining volume capacity of fluid flowhas been measured by the flow meter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a twin tank water treatment systemaccording to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the twin tank water treatment system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of the twin tank water treatmentsystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of a valve assemblyof the twin tank water treatment system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of another portion of the valveassembly of the twin tank water treatment system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it isto be understood that the invention is not limited in its application tothe details of construction and the arrangement of components set forthin the following description or illustrated in the following drawings.The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced orof being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood thatthe phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of“including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein ismeant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereofas well as additional items. Unless specified or limited otherwise, theterms “mounted,” “connected,” “supported,” and “coupled” and variationsthereof are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirectmountings, connections, supports, and couplings. Further, “connected”and “coupled” are not restricted to physical or mechanical connectionsor couplings.

The following discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in theart to make and use embodiments of the invention. Various modificationsto the illustrated embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles herein can be applied to otherembodiments and applications without departing from embodiments of theinvention. Thus, embodiments of the invention are not intended to belimited to embodiments shown, but are to be accorded the widest scopeconsistent with the principles and features disclosed herein. Thefollowing detailed description is to be read with reference to thefigures, in which like elements in different figures have like referencenumerals. The figures, which are not necessarily to scale, depictselected embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope ofembodiments of the invention. Skilled artisans will recognize theexamples provided herein have many useful alternatives and fall withinthe scope of embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a twin tank water treatment system 10 according toone embodiment of the invention. The system 10 can include a first tank12, a second tank 14, a valve assembly 16, and sensors 18. In someembodiments, the system 10 can be used for substantially continuousresidential or commercial water softening.

As shown in FIG. 2, the valve assembly 16 can include a system inlet 20for receiving untreated fluid (e.g., “hard” water) and a system outlet22 for supplying treated fluid (e.g., “soft” water). In someembodiments, the valve assembly 16 can include a bypass valve 24 which,when actuated, can allow fluid received at the system inlet 20 to bypassthe system 10 and flow straight to the system outlet 22. As a result,the bypass valve 24 can allow the system outlet 22 to supply untreatedfluid if necessary, for example, during maintenance of the system 10.When the bypass valve 24 is not actuated, the valve assembly 16 candirect the flow of untreated fluid from the system inlet 20 to a tankinlet 26 (as shown in FIG. 3) of either the first tank 12 or the secondtank 14 for treatment. The valve assembly 16 can then receive treatedfluid from a tank outlet 28 of either the first tank 12 or the secondtank 14 and direct the treated fluid to the system outlet 22.

In some embodiments, the valve assembly 16 can control which tank 12, 14is in service and can control a regeneration process of the tank 14, 12that is not in service. For example, the valve assembly 16 can allow thefirst tank 12 to be in service for treating fluid while the second tank14 is out of service, and once the in-service first tank 12 has beenexhausted and requires regeneration, the valve assembly 16 can switchfluid flow to the second tank 14 for fluid treatment and controlregeneration of the first tank 12. As a result, fluid treatment can besubstantially continuous, without requiring down-time like conventionalsingle-tank systems.

The valve assembly 16 can also control regeneration stages of both thefirst tank 12 and the second tank 14. For example, each tank 12, 14 caninclude a resin bed 30 (as shown in FIG. 3.) saturated withmono-positive ions, such as sodium ions. The mono-positive ions can bindto resin beads of the resin bed at binding sites. During treatment,untreated fluid can flow from the tank inlet 26 through the resin bed 30and di-positive and/or tri-positive (e.g., calcium ions, magnesium ions,iron ions, aluminum ions, etc., hereinafter “hardness ions”) in theuntreated fluid can replace the mono-positive ions at the binding sitesof the resin beads. The treated fluid (i.e., the fluid substantiallyfree of the hardness ions) can then be supplied through the tank outlet28. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, untreated water can besupplied through the tank inlet 26 near a top portion of the tank 12,14, flow downward through the resin bed 30 to a bottom portion of thetank 12, 14, through a collector cup 32 into a distributor tube 34, andback up to the tank outlet 28 through the distributor tube 34.

When the untreated water reaches the resin bed 30, hardness ions canbind to the first available binding sites. As a result, the top portionof resin bed 30 can be exhausted first. More specifically, an interface,or hardness front, between exhausted and unexhausted resin can begin atthe top portion of the resin bed 30 and move downward through the resinbed 30 over time. Once the mono-positive ions from substantially allbinding sites have been replaced with hardness ions (i.e., once thehardness front has reached or nearly reached the bottom of the tank 12,14), the resin bed 30 can be considered exhausted and can requireregeneration with, for example, a brine solution to re-saturate theresin bed 30 with mono-positive ions. In some embodiments, the valveassembly 16 can include a controller 36 in communication with thesensors 18 and at least one flow meter 38 (as shown in FIG. 2) todetermine when the resin bed 30 of the tank 12, 14 is exhausted, asdescribed below. As shown in FIG. 2, the valve assembly 16 can includethe flow meter 38 to measure a volume of fluid flow through the systemoutlet 22. In some embodiments, the flow meter 38 can measure a volumeof fluid flow through the system inlet 20, one of the tank inlets 26,and/or one of the tank outlets 28.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, each tank 12, 14 can include two sensors 18.In some embodiments, the sensors 18 can be conductivity probes and canextend into the tank 12, 14 vertically displaced from one another. Theconductivity of the resin bed 30 can be dependent on the ions occupyingthe binding sites. As a result, the conductivity measured by each of thesensors 18 can be higher when the binding sites contain mono-positivesodium ions and lower when the binding sites contain di-positive ortri-positive hardness ions, resulting in a different conductivity oneach side of the hardness front. Due to varying water supplies, theconductivity of the fluid supplied to the system 10 may not be uniform.The controller 36 can use the ratio of two conductivity measurements(i.e., from the two sensors 18), as described below, to determine alocation of the hardness front. By using a ratio, the conductivity ofthe fluid can become a common mode signal so that the resulting ratio isdependent on the conductivity of the sodium ions and/or the conductivityof the hardness ions in the resin bed 30.

Conductivity is also strongly influenced by temperature. Temperaturecompensation can be a multiplying factor. The conductivity ratio can beindependent of temperature when the sensors 18 are at the sametemperature. The sensors 18 can be at a different temperature when thereis fluid flow until the resin bed 30 reaches thermal equilibrium. Sincethe time to reach thermal equilibrium can be substantially shorter thanthe movement of the hardness front, a digital low pass filter can beapplied to the ratio to help remove temperature effects. In someembodiments, the type of resin in the resin bed 30 can also be a factorwhich affects the ratio and can be taken into consideration when thecontroller 36 determines the ratio.

Conductivity is also influenced by a “cell constant” of each sensor 18.The cell constant can be the ratio of an effective length of aconducting path the two electrodes of each sensor 18 and a crosssectional area between the two electrodes of each sensor 18. The cellconstant is also controlled by the geometry of the electrodes. In oneembodiment, the ratio measured by the two sensors 18 can be independentof the cell constants if both sensors 18 have the same cell constants.If the cell constants of the two sensor 18 are not the same, the ratioof the cell constants can be calculated when the ratio of theconductivities is known. For example, as explained below, theconductivity ratio can be known after regeneration and after a completeservice cycle. When the ratio of the cell constants is known, it can beused to correct the calculated conductivity ratio.

After regeneration, the ratio can be about 1.0 since both sensors 18 areexposed to approximately the same concentration of sodium ions. Ashardness ions replace the sodium ions, the resin bed 30 canprogressively become less conductive starting at the top portion andworking toward the bottom portion. This causes the ratio of the bottomsensor 18 conductance relative to the top sensor 18 conductance toincrease, indicating a “leading edge” in the ratio. For example, theratio can be between about 1.8 and about 2.4 when the hardness front isbetween the sensors 18. A maximum value of the ratio can be a functionof the ratio of conductance of sodium and hardness ions.

When the hardness front passes the bottom sensor 18, the ratio can againapproach about 1.0, indicating a “trailing edge” of the ratio, becauseboth sensors 18 are exposed to approximately the same concentration ofhardness ions. As a result, there may be no difference between theregenerated ratio and the exhausted ratio and only when the hardnessfront is between the sensors 18 may the ratio differ from about 1.0.

In some embodiments, the controller 36 can include a microcontroller ora microprocessor (not shown) which can execute algorithms forcalculating the ratio using measurements sensed by the sensors 18 andretrieved by the controller 36.

After regeneration, the controller 36 can be in a leading edge stateuntil the leading edge occurs. The controller 36 can calculate theprobability of a leading edge hardness front, P[le], and morespecifically, when the leading edge occurs, using the followingequation:

${P\lbrack{le}\rbrack} = {\frac{MaximumCurrentRatio}{3 \times {MinimumCurrentRatio}}\begin{matrix}{{{{if}\mspace{14mu} {P\lbrack{le}\rbrack}} > {1\mspace{14mu} {then}\mspace{14mu} {P\lbrack{le}\rbrack}}} = 1} \\{{{{if}\mspace{14mu} {P\lbrack{le}\rbrack}} < {0.35\mspace{14mu} {then}\mspace{14mu} {P\lbrack{le}\rbrack}}} = 0}\end{matrix}}$

In one embodiment, while in the leading edge state, the controller 36can use a present, calculated ratio rather than a maximum ratio. Inaddition, in some embodiments, the controller 36 can use an average ofratios calculated since the last regeneration occurred rather than theminimum ratio. This can allow the controller 36 to ignore decreasedsignals that may be present after regeneration. The controller 36 canswitch from the leading edge state to a trailing edge state when P[le]is non-zero. In other words, the controller 36 can determine that theleading edge occurs when P[le] changes from zero to one. Once theleading edge has occurred, the controller 36 can switch from a leadingedge state to a trailing edge state in order to determine when thetrailing edge occurs.

The controller 36 can calculate the probability of a trailing edgehardness front, P[te], and more specifically, when the trailing edgeoccurs, using the following equation:

${P\lbrack{te}\rbrack} = \frac{{MaximumCurrentRatio} - {PresentCurrentRatio}}{{MaximumCurrentRatio} - {MinimumCurrentRatio}}$

The controller 36 can also calculate P[le] when in the trailing edgestate. The controller can then use P[le] and P[te] to determine ordetect impending exhaustion of the resin bed 30. For example, in oneembodiment, the controller 36 can detect complete exhaustion when theproduct of P[le] and P[te] is greater than, for example, about 0.38 forfour consecutive hours. In some embodiments, while checking forexhaustion, if P[le] is less than 0.45, P[le] can be set to 0.0. Inanother embodiment, the controller 36 can detect impending exhaustion ofthe resin bed 30 once the hardness front passes the lowermost sensor 18(i.e., once the trailing edge is triggered) and calculate when the resinbed 30 will be completely exhausted, as described below.

In some embodiments, the controller 36 can retrieve conductivitymeasurements from the sensors 18 to calculate the ratios, for example,through external connections 40, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. In oneembodiment, the algorithms described below can be used by the controller36.

Using two digital output lines, the controller 36 can generate an eightlevel Walsh approximation to a sine wave. This signal can be applied toa Walsh sine wave generator to combine the terms at correct ratios. Theoutput of the Walsh sine wave generator can be applied to a low passfilter in order to remove high order harmonics, resulting in anessentially pure sine wave. The output of the low pass filter can passthough a resistor to drive the electrodes of the sensors 18. Theresistor can increase the range of a conductivity signal, because thevoltage applied to the sensors 18 decreases as the current increases.For any non-zero generator voltage, the ratio of the conductivities canbe independent of the generator voltage.

The sensors 18 can be excited with the sine wave. In one embodiment, thesine wave can have a frequency of approximately 1,000 Hertz with a peakamplitude of approximately 100 millivolts. This low excitation voltagecan help prevent chemical reduction from occurring at the electrodes ofthe sensors 18. Also, the relatively high excitation frequency can helpreduce the possible effects of electrode double layer capacitance.

Current from each sensor 18 can be applied to individualcurrent-to-voltage converters. The current-to-voltage converters cantransform the current through the sensors 18 into a voltage. In oneembodiment, the current-to-voltage converters can have a low pass filterthat attenuates frequencies above the Nyquist frequency. The low passfiltered voltages can then be applied to an A/D input of the controller36. The controller 36 can alternately read eight samples of one cyclefor each sensor input. A Fourier transform can adaptively filter andcalculate the magnitude of the currents using, for example, 4000 cyclesof each current. After calculating the Fourier sums for the 4000 cycles,the controller 36 can calculate the ratio and apply the ratio to anotherlow pass filter. In one embodiment, the controller 36 can calculate thelow pass filtered ratio once every minute.

In some embodiments, the controller 36 can use adaptive algorithms tofollow the exhaustion front through the resin bed 30. These algorithmscan compensate for changes measured by the sensors 18 caused, forexample, by unequal contamination of the untreated water. For example,untreated water can include a hardness setting (e.g., inkilo-grains/gallon of water) depending on concentrations of hardnessions in the untreated water. Untreated water from different sources orfrom the same source can include varied actual hardness settings due tounequal contamination, or unequal concentrations of hardness ions.

In some embodiments, the controller 36 can determine a location of thehardness front and a volume of fluid treated until the hardness fronthas reached the determined location, and the controller 36 can adjust ahardness setting of the fluid based on these determinations. As aresult, a more accurate hardness setting can be used to estimate thevolume capacity available before the resin bed 30 is completelyexhausted.

In one embodiment, the controller 36 can use an estimated initialhardness setting, for example, as input by a user, and can adjust thehardness setting based on measurements from the sensors 18 and the flowmeter 38. In one embodiment, when the controller 36 detects impendingresin bed exhaustion (i.e., when the controller 36 detects the trailingedge), it can automatically adjust a new hardness setting using thefollowing formulas in order to compensate for the varied actual hardnesssettings of the untreated water:

Adjust Ratio=((100−Sensor Placement)×(capacity)×1000)/((fluid volumeused since last regeneration)×(Current Hardness))

New Hardness=Old Hardness×Adjust Ratio

More specifically, an “adjust ratio” can be calculated based on a knowncapacity of the resin bed (e.g., in grains, as input by the user),placement of the lowermost sensor 18 (e.g., as a unit-less number inputby the user), the measured volume of fluid which has been treated sincethe last regeneration (e.g., in gallons, as measured by the flow meter38), and the old hardness setting (e.g., in kilo-grains/gallon, eitheras input by the user or as previously calculated by the controller 36).The new hardness setting can be a product of the old hardness settingand the adjust ratio. In some embodiments, the adjust ratio can belimited to about +/−20%. In some embodiments, the user can input theinformation, such as capacity of the resin bed, placement of the sensor18, an initial hardness setting, or other information using a userinterface 41 of the controller 36, as shown in FIG. 1.

By using measurements from the sensors 18 as well as measurements fromthe flow meter 38 as described above to adjust the hardness settingduring each cycle, a point of complete resin bed exhaustion can be moreaccurately measured. For example, using the new hardness setting and theknown capacity of the resin, a total volume capacity of the resin bed 30can be calculated. The measured volume of fluid which has been treatedsince the last regeneration can be subtracted from the total volumecapacity to determine a remaining volume capacity available before theresin bed 30 is completely exhausted (i.e., for the hardness front tomove from the lowermost sensor 18 down to the bottom portion of theresin bed 30). As a result, substantially the entire resin bed 30 can becompletely utilized, maximizing an efficiency of the system 10. Forexample, conventional systems without conductivity sensors typicallyrequire a reserve capacity. Such systems may only use a flow sensor todetermine when regeneration should occur (i.e., after a certain volumeof fluid has been treated). Since a flow sensor cannot determine wherethe hardness front is located along the resin bed, most conventionalsystems must be configured with the reserve capacity (or safetycapacity) to ensure that a regeneration occurs before hard water isdelivered. In some embodiments of the invention, the reserve capacitymay no longer be required in the system 10 because an estimated volumecapacity of fluid that can be treated before the resin bed 30 is fullyexhausted can be more accurately measured during the service cycle, andthe second tank 14 can provide an immediate source of fluid to treatwhenever the first tank requires regeneration.

The controller 36 can use an adaptive algorithm to follow the hardnessfront through the resin bed. The controller can also include physicalmemory, such as electronic erasable programmable read-only memory(EEPROM), flash memory, etc. in order to store measurement values, pastratio calculations, and other data. For example, historical informationregarding minimum ratios and maximum ratios during previous servicecycles can be stored in the memory. This information can be used after apower outage to estimate a location of the hardness front.

In some embodiments, the valve assembly 16 can be capable of controllingwhich tank 12, 14 is in service and the regeneration process of the tank12, 14 that is not in service. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the system 10can include a second tank adapter 42, adapter clips 44, yokes 46, andyoke mounts 48 to couple the second tank 14 to a valve body 50 of thevalve assembly 16. The adapter clips 44 can couple the yokes mounts 48to the valve body 50 and the second tank adapter 42, as shown in FIG. 4,via fasteners 52, such a screws. O-rings 54 and retainer rings 56 canalso be used as seals at the connection points between the yokes mounts48 and the valve body 50, as well as the yoke mounts 48 and the secondtank adapter 42. As shown in FIG. 4, the second tank adapter 42 can alsoinclude a distributor adapter kit 58, a distributor retainer ring 60,and o-rings 62 in order to substantially seal a connection between thesecond tank adapter 42 and the second tank 14. In addition, as shown inFIG. 5, the valve body 50 can be coupled to the first tank 12 by adistributor adapter 96 and a retainer ring 98.

FIG. 5 illustrates a portion of the valve assembly 16 according to oneembodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the valve assembly 16can include a first piston assembly 64 and a second piston assembly 66to control fluid distribution in the first tank 12 and the second tank14, respectively. For example, the controller 36 can control a positionof a piston 68 within a spacer assembly 70 to provide proper fluidmovement for a service cycle or for different stages of the regenerationcycle (e.g., backwash, brine draw, rinse, brine fill etc.). In oneembodiment, the valve assembly 16 can include a timer assembly and/or anoptical encoder (not shown) to move a piston rod link 72 and control aposition of the piston 68 in the spacer assembly 70. The controller 36can also monitor piston positions within the spacer assembly 70 tomonitor the stages of the regeneration cycle. The single controller 36designed to interface with the sensors 18, the flow meter 38, and boththe piston assemblies 64, 66 can offer a low complexity, high efficiencysystem 10. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, each piston assembly 64, 66can include washers 74, screws 76, an end plug 78, seals 80, a pistonrod 82, and a piston rod retainer 84. The valve assembly 16 can controlthe flow of fluid to either the first tank 14 or the second tank 16 witha switch valve assembly 86 including a spacer assembly 88 and end plugs90, as shown in FIG. 5. The switch valve assembly 86 can be enclosed inthe valve body 50 by an end plate 92 and screws 94.

In some embodiments, the valve assembly 16 can use an injector assembly100 and a brine valve assembly 102, as shown in FIG. 5, during stages ofregeneration. The injector assembly 100 can include an injector body104, an injector throat 106, an injector screen 108, an injector nozzle110, an injector cap 112, screws 114, o-rings 116, washers 118, spacers120, a drain line flow control retainer button 122, and an air disperser124. The brine valve assembly 102 can include a brine valve seat 126, abrine valve stem 128, a brine valve spacer 130, a brine valve cap 132, abrine valve spring 134, a brine line flow control retainer 136, a brineline flow control adapter 138, o-rings 140, retainer rings 142, andwashers 144. In one embodiment, the injector assembly 100 can be influid communication with a drain portion 146 of the valve assembly 16and the brine valve assembly 102 can be coupled to the injector body104.

In some embodiments, the controller 36 can also be used to determinefaults or failures in the system 10. During regeneration, the controller36 can measure a maximum value and a minimum value of the resistive (orreal) part of the current of the one of the sensors 18. At the end ofregeneration, the controller 36 can calculate the probability that saltwas present, P[salt], using the following equation:

${P\lbrack{salt}\rbrack} = {{\frac{MaximumRealCurrentDuringRegneration}{3 \times {MinimumRealCurrentDuringRegeneration}}{{{if}\mspace{14mu} {P\lbrack{salt}\rbrack}} > {1\mspace{14mu} {then}\mspace{14mu} {P\lbrack{salt}\rbrack}}}} = 1}$

If P[salt] is less then 0.43 the controller 36 can set a “No Salt” flagto indicate no or minimal salt was present during regeneration (i.e.,from the brine solution). If P[salt] is not less then 0.43, thecontroller can clear the No Salt flag.

In some embodiments, when the controller 36 detects impending exhaustion(i.e., when the trailing edge is triggered), the controller 36 cancalculate the running average of P[le] for the last four service cycles.The controller 36 can then compare this average to P[le] of the presentservice cycle. If P[le] of the present service cycle is less than apercentage (e.g., about 22.5%) of the average, a “Reduced Capacity” flagcan be set to indicate reduced capacity of the resin bed 30. Thecontroller 36 can also set the Reduced Capacity flag if P[le] for thepresent service cycle is less than a value (e.g., about 0.55). If P[le]is not less than a percentage of the average and is greater than thevalue, the controller 36 can clear the Reduced Capacity flag.

In some embodiments, the controller 36 can also determine if the currentratio is within a range (e.g., about 0.111 to about 100). If the ratiois outside this range, a “Bad Probe” flag can be set, indicating afailure or issue with one of the sensors 18. The Bad Probe flag can becleared when the ratio is within the range.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while theinvention has been described above in connection with particularembodiments and examples, the invention is not necessarily so limited,and that numerous other embodiments, examples, uses, modifications anddepartures from the embodiments, examples and uses are intended to beencompassed by the claims attached hereto. The entire disclosure of eachpatent and publication cited herein is incorporated by reference, as ifeach such patent or publication were individually incorporated byreference herein. Various features and advantages of the invention areset forth in the following claims.

1. A water treatment system comprising: a first tank including a firstset of sensors and a first resin bed; a second tank including a secondset of sensors and a second resin bed; and a valve assembly coupled tothe first tank and the second tank and including a controller incommunication with the first set of sensors, the second set of sensors,and a flow meter, the controller determining that the first resin bed isexhausted based on input from the flow meter and the first set ofsensors, the controller switching service operation from the first tankto the second tank when the first resin bed is exhausted.
 2. The watertreatment system of claim 1, wherein the controller determines ahardness front location along the resin bed using the first set ofsensors, measures a volume of fluid that has flowed through the resinbed using the flow meter, and determines a position of the first set ofsensors.
 3. The water treatment system of claim 2, wherein thecontroller calculates a water hardness setting using the hardness frontlocation, the measured volume of fluid that has flowed through the resinbed, and the position of the first set of sensors, estimates a remainingfluid volume capacity using the water hardness setting, a resin bedcapacity, and the measured volume of fluid that has flowed through theresin bed, and determines that the first resin bed is exhausted when theremaining fluid volume capacity has flowed through the first resin bed.4. The water treatment system of claim 1, wherein the controllerdetermines that the second resin bed is exhausted based on input fromthe flow meter and the second set of sensors, and the controllerswitches service operation from the second tank to the first tank whenthe second resin bed is exhausted.
 5. The water treatment system ofclaim 1, wherein the valve assembly includes a first piston valveassembly for controlling fluid flow into the first tank, and thecontroller controls the first piston valve assembly to performregeneration of the first resin bed when the first resin bed isexhausted.
 6. The water treatment system of claim 1, wherein the valveassembly includes a switching valve assembly and the controller controlsthe switching valve assembly to switch service operation from the firsttank to the second tank when the first resin bed is exhausted.
 7. Thewater treatment system of claim 1, wherein the first resin bed isdetermined to be exhausted when substantially zero reserve capacity isleft within the first resin bed.
 8. The water treatment system of claim1 and further comprising a user interface, wherein the controllerdetermines that the first resin bed is exhausted based on input from theflow meter, the first set of sensors, and the user interface.
 9. Thewater treatment system of claim 1, wherein the first set of sensors arein communication with the controller through first sensor connectionsexternal to the first tank and the second set of sensors are incommunication with the controller through second sensor connectionsexternal to the second tank.
 10. The water treatment system of claim 1and further comprising a system inlet and a system outlet, wherein theflow meter is coupled to the valve assembly at the system outlet.
 11. Amethod for determining when a resin bed of a water treatment system isexhausted, the method comprising: measuring a volume of fluid that hasflowed through the resin bed; retrieving an initial water hardnesssetting; retrieving a resin bed capacity; measuring a hardness frontlocation along the resin bed using at least one sensor; calculating anew water hardness setting using the hardness front location, themeasured volume of fluid that has flowed through the resin bed, and aplacement of the at least one sensor; estimating a remaining fluidvolume capacity using the new water hardness setting, the resin bedcapacity, and the measured volume of fluid that has flowed through theresin bed; and determining that the resin bed is exhausted when theremaining fluid volume capacity has flowed through the resin bed. 12.The method of claim 11, and further comprising measuring a firstconductivity of the resin bed at a first location; measuring a secondconductivity of the resin bed at a second location, the second locationbeing vertically displaced from the first location; and calculating aratio of the first conductivity and the second conductivity to determinethe hardness front location along the resin bed.
 13. The method of claim12, wherein the first conductivity and the second conductivity aresubstantially equal when the hardness front location is below both thefirst location and the second location and are substantially differentwhen the hardness front location is between the first location and thesecond location.
 14. The method of claim 11, and further comprisingcalculating the new water hardness setting when the hardness frontlocation is approximately equal to a sensor location of one of the atleast one sensor.
 15. The method of claim 11, and further comprisingtriggering regeneration of the resin bed when the resin bed isexhausted.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein the initial waterhardness setting and the resin bed capacity are retrieved from a userinterface.
 17. The method of claim 11, and further comprisingimmediately switching fluid flow to a secondary resin bed when the resinbed is exhausted.
 18. The method of claim 11, wherein the initial waterhardness setting is a previously calculated water hardness settingstored in a memory.
 19. A water treatment system comprising: a firsttank including a first set of sensors and a first resin bed; a valveassembly coupled to the first tank, the valve assembly including a flowmeter and a controller, the controller in communication with the firstset of sensors and the flow meter; and a user interface capable ofretrieving an initial water hardness setting, the controllersubstantially continuously adjusting the initial water hardness settingbased on input from the flow meter and the first set of sensors, thecontroller calculating a remaining volume capacity of fluid flow untilthe first resin bed is exhausted based on an adjusted water hardnesssetting, and initiating regeneration of the first resin bed when theremaining volume capacity of fluid flow has been exceeded as measured bythe flow meter.
 20. The water treatment system of claim 19, and furthercomprising a second tank including a second set of sensors and a secondresin bed, wherein the controller switches service from the first tankto the second tank when regeneration of the first resin bed isinitiated.
 21. The water treatment system of claim 20, wherein thecontroller continuously adjusts the initial water hardness setting basedon input from the flow meter and the second set of sensors, calculates aremaining volume capacity of fluid flow until the second resin bed isexhausted based on the adjusted water hardness setting, and initiatesregeneration of the second resin bed when the remaining volume capacityof fluid flow has been measured by the flow meter.
 22. The watertreatment system of claim 20, wherein the valve assembly includes aswitching valve assembly controlled by the controller and capable ofswitching service from one of the first tank to the second tank and thesecond tank to the first tank.